This blog, written by Thomas E. Rutledge, focuses primarily on business entity law in Kentucky. Postings on contract law, contractual and statutory construction, and the entity law of other jurisdictions appear as well. There may as well be some random discussions of classical, medieval and renaissance history.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Northwestern Abandons Two-Year JD Program

Northwestern Abandons Two-Year JD Program

According to a posting on the Above the Law site (HERE IS A LINK TO THAT REPORT)
Northwestern University Law has abandoned its two-year (as contrasted with the
typical three-year) JD program.A
variety of reasons are bandied about ranging from internal issues within the
law school, issues with respect to approval of the program by the American Bar
Association and a perceived failure of the program to address the cost of law
school; the two-year program cost just as much as the three-year program.

For myself, I am somewhat glad
the program has failed.I have nothing
against Northwestern; it is an outstanding institution.However, I am against the notion that law school
can be accelerated.Simply put, it takes
time for the rewiring that is the purpose and intent of a legal education to
take root.Shorting the program of legal
education will become little more than cramming for the SAT; lots of data, very
little information.In addition,
shortening the training program will only increase the perception that law is a
commodity, the view upon which LegalZoom is based.

Were I in charge (trust me,
there are many law students that are glad I am not), law school would be made
not shorter but longer.Frankly, in an
age in which fewer and fewer newly minted attorneys are able to join large
firms where their training will be continued (indeed completed) in a structured
format, an additional year of training focused upon practical issues in the
legal practice would make those new attorneys more effective, less likely to
commit malpractice and a greater value to their clients. A secondary effect of
such a change would be a reduction in the total number of new attorneys,
thereby reducing the commodity treatment of what should be a learned
profession.